For Mikah Meyer, a road trip became closely connected with remembering his father. A car carried family associations as well as luggage, and the road offered a way to spend time with places and people that mattered to him.

His story gives travel a personal scale. Its significance lies in the connection he describes, rather than in a rule that everyone should leave immediately or turn a difficult period into an ambitious journey.

Whose story is this?

In the essay originally shared by this site, Meyer described inheriting his father’s Hyundai Elantra after his death and using it for road trips. He later took a longer North American journey following graduate school.

Those experiences belong to Meyer. They are not the first-hand history of Travel the Whole World’s author, and they should be read as one person’s account of finding meaning through travel.

His own biography continues to identify his road-trip-loving father as an important inspiration for his work.

The later national parks journey

Meyer went on to undertake a separate project visiting the units of the US National Park System. His website dates that journey from April 2016 to April 2019 and records its completion at the Lincoln Memorial.

This later project should not be merged with the earlier Elantra trip into one undated adventure. Each had its own route, purpose and circumstances.

For ideas at a much smaller scale, our US parks in autumn feature offers a starting point for choosing a particular place and season.

Find the meaning before the mileage

If a journey has personal significance for you, begin with that reason. Perhaps you want to revisit somewhere associated with a relative, see an old friend or spend a few days following an interest you have neglected.

Write down the one experience you most want to make space for. Then ask what the smallest satisfying version would look like. It might involve a short train ride and a shared lunch rather than a continent-wide road trip.

The practical plan can then serve the purpose, instead of the purpose getting lost in an impressive-looking itinerary.

Leave room for mixed feelings

A meaningful trip does not have to feel joyful every minute. A familiar place can bring comfort, sadness or both, and a change of scene does not guarantee relief from grief.

Choose company, pace and flexibility that suit you. It is fine to shorten a day, change a stop or decide that the right time for a particular journey is later.

Make one workable next step

Our road-trip planning guide can help turn an idea into a route with realistic driving days and useful preparation. If taking time away from work is part of the question, the career-break guide offers a separate planning framework.

You might start by contacting the friend you hope to visit, looking at a suitable date or saving a small amount towards a clear plan. Meyer’s story can prompt that attention without becoming an obligation to imitate his life. The important journey is the one whose meaning you can explain for yourself.

The Driving Miss Norma story offers another family’s account of making time for a journey, with its own circumstances and limits.